The case of lack of attention
by Kaggami-chan
Summary: Merry Christmas! Present for Nikodou Natsumi from her secret santa ;) Promt: A story about Conan or Shinichi losing his present for Ran and having to find it again before Christmas day is over.


**Declaimer: I don´t own anything.**

 **A/N: MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! And happy new year if I don´t post nothing until then...**

 **In poirotcafe, we did a secret santa exchange. This is a gift for Nikodou Natsumi from poirotcafe. Enjoy. :)**

* * *

 _The case of lack of attention_

This was going to be a great day, Shinichi thought as he quietly walked back home, a red package in one hand and a bag of groceries in another, eyes twinkling with hard to miss happiness. Somehow, he felt like nothing could ruin his good humor. It was, after all, Christmas Eve, and for the first time in years, he was going to celebrate it at home with all his closest friends. Indeed, it was going to be a great day.

When Ran had asked to borrow his house, he had felt slightly apprehensive, not sure it was a good idea. While the Kudo manor was, indeed, a grand place, and had more rooms that he those could count with both hands, the prospect of opening it to strangers was not… appealing. Strangely enough, Ran immediately understood the issue, even though all he had mumbled was _not sure,_ assuring him only their close friends would be invited. And that made him wonder…

It had been years since the last time a true party had been held in the mansion, precisely ten years ago, when Shinichi had turned eight and his parents decided to show off their little boy. Since that party ended with Shinichi being kidnapped right under his father´s nose, it became short of a rule not to have more home-parties, not that the little boy had minded at that time.

This year, however, Shinichi was hopping to spend the Christmas day with his friends, and if they wanted to have a party at his house, why not? After all, he was no longer the little child that needed protection. Even if someone tried to kidnap him again, he was more than capable of fighting back.

It had been, in the end, a good idea to throw the party at his house, the detective reflected as he looked up the grey sky, his breath visible in the cold weather. Only few hours remained now before everyone came, and once again, his house would be filled with the warmth that only people could bring.

A sudden screams tore Shinichi away from his reflection, head snapping at the direction where it came from, more than aware that such type of scream only meant one thing. Rushing in the little coffee shop, the detective didn´t stop twice, easy maneuvering himself through the crowd, reaching the body in a record time.

"Everyone stay back!" The order was easily heard through the panicking crowd, years of practice coming through. "Manager, please call the police. No one leaves the store, understood? Please return to your seat, so we can quickly deal with this."

It was obvious by the many gasps, sudden phone photographs and general murmurs that he had been recognized, but as he looked at the fallen body of a well-dressed woman, all thoughts of the crowd disappeared. After all, the only thing that mattered was to find her murderer, and bring justice to her death.

Quick, sapphire eyes scanned the scene, cataloging every detail with precision, storing it in a place he could rapidly recall it. Dark marks under victim's eyes, bitten nails, clothes two sizes bigger, skin too pink, the smell of bitter almond – victim was under stress lately, had money problems, lost a lot of weight, nervous tick sat in… No, that was not the most important part. Killed by cyanide poisoning, more than double of the lethal dose judging how quickly she died. Ingested orally, judging by the untouched cake, through her coffee. Was meting someone, a rather close friend judging by the scarce make up, close enough not to mind too much, but still someone to impress, the outfit, even though too lose, was pricy. A longtime friend, haven´t seen each other in a while…

"Kudo-kun?" Looking up, Shinichi finally noticed the arrival of the police, nodding respectfully as Megure-keibu, Takagi-san and Sato-san joined him near the body. "Why, even at Christmas Eve the cases seem to follow you."

"Megure-keibu…" The teen sweat dropped, ignoring the grin Sato-san sent him. "I went to buy some groceries when I heard the shouts as I was returning. I assure you, this case would have happened even if I was happily warming up at home."

"Yes, yes, let´s see what we have here…"

Attention immediately shifted to the crime scene, Shinichi sending Ran a message he would arrive slightly late because of a case, well aware his best friend would kill him if he sent no explanation to his lateness. After the issue with the organization had been solved, she had given him a lot of grief about his disappearance…

An hour later, with the case solved in record time, after a rather threatening message from Ran, the detective was finally making his way back. The case had been rather simple; the friend she had been meeting with had the reason for the victim's stress. Apparently, when they were both taking an entrance exam to a special course, the victim sabotaged her friend´s test, ensuring she was the only one accepted. Obviously, the murderer blamed her for their unsavory life, and when threats and bad thought out pranks weren´t enough, they decided to kill her. Truly, such idiots.

Sighing, Shinichi took out his phone, checking once again the time. He was about ten minutes away from his house, and the party would start in two hours. Thankfully, he still had plenty of time to get ready both physically and mentally. While he may be happy the house would be full again, it meant having to deal with all their friends at once, and he truthfully often thought it was tiresome to deal with them separately, not to mention all at the same time…

It didn´t matter, however, he would attend the party and he would enjoy it! And when the 25th finally came, he would give Ran her present, warped in her favorite red wrapping paper. She had commented once absentmindedly about a certain wrapping paper she had liked, and since it was their first Christmas together after the Conan-fiasco, he had gone to the trouble of purchasing it. The gift to was specially chosen, now all he had to do was lay the present under the tree, and it would all be perfect!

As he changed the grocery bag into the other hand, Shinichi frowned, trying to remember where he had left the present. Since Ran was obsessed with the party, the detective had been forced to hide the gift at Hakase´s for a while. After all, it would do no good for her to find it ahead of time. However, hadn´t he picked it as he left for the grocery shop? He clearly remembered talking with Haibara, picking up a gift… It was Ran´s gift, right? Right, a red paper wrapping, gold ribbon because that idiot had said all red was stupid…

As he looked down on his hands, one holding a bag of juices he had bought while the other dangled freely, his mind stopped for a second.

There was no gift. In his hands. No red box. No gold ribbon. No highly costly present hidden in a box, warped in a cute red wrapping paper with a gold, carefully added ribbon. No gift.

Without thinking, Shinichi´s hands shot up, the grocery bag falling down on the cold concrete.

His hands were empty!

W-where… how… the gift… No, no, no, this couldn't be happening! Sure, he wasn´t sure it was Ran´s red wrapping paper he had seen that morning, the ribbon also seemed the wrong color, he was sure Ran would like a green one better; but he had already given away all other presents! Only Ran´s was left at Hakase´s and now he had lost it! How could he have lost it? Oh god, Ran was going to murder him, where would he find another present at the last minute, the shops would soon close, he did not have a whole week to search through thousands catalogs because he wasn´t sure what to give her and he wanted it to be perfect and now he had no gift and Ran was going to murder him, he was supposed to be back long ago, could Haibara shrink him again or something…

The ring of the phone suddenly exploded in the silence, Shinichi´s mental rambling coming to a startling stop. With shaky hands, almost certain it was her calling, the detective took out his phone. Indeed, on the scream Ran´s name flashed almost violently, and before he knew it, the phone was flying thought the sky as he jumped back.

"Damn!" Rushing forward to catch it, he resisted the urge to wince as the phone hit the ground, well aware it was all his fault. At least it stopped ringing, he reflected as he sighed loudly, eyeing his half broken phone and the ruined groceries. God, this was supposed to be such a good day…

"No time to whine about it…" The detective mumbled as he kneeled down, putting the device together. "I had the present with me, so all I need to do is retrace my steps. Easy, I can do this…" There was still the issue of how he had lost it, but in his half panicked state, Shinichi didn´t think twice about it, rushing back to the park through which he had been forced to pass.

The groceries long forgotten, a half-dead phone in hand, the detective of the ease gave chase, with only one though in mind: retrieve the present.

The run through the green bubbling park did not record in his mind, his feet carrying him forward as his blue eyes searched the place wildly, trying to locate the red package. He had only three possible locations in mind, the only places where he could have, one way or another, lost such an important gift without noticing: the cafe, the police car where he had sat for few seconds finishing his statement and the crossroad where he had helped an old lady.

As the crossroad neared, Shinichi gave chase, completely missing a cheerful hello directed his way. Sadly enough, there was no red gift nowhere near the place where he had stopped for few minutes, and as the light turned green, the teen departed once again, not sparing another glance.

What a shame really, because should he have looked, he would have noticed a dark haired teen staring at him confused, hand raised as he kept calling him, all but ready to follow the flustered teen. After all, for a moment, before a certain childhood friend with an Osakan accent started to yell for ignoring her, the panicked expression on Kudo´s face almost made him fear for the worse. Kudo was, however, gone already after he managed to calm down that idiot, and it was with confused thoughts that Hattori Heiji made his way to the Kudo mansion.

* * *

If the police officers were surprised when a heavily breathing, completely disheveled, red faced Kudo Shinichi ran into the station, they clearly showed it, some going as far as to allow the paperwork to fall down, suddenly afraid there was someone extremely dangerous on the loose. The teens placations and quick head shakes did nothing to calm their suspiciousness. But as no killer came knocking on their door in the next minute or two, they just continued with their work as the teen disappeared somewhere with Takagi.

Not that it was easy to continue working, Akaso commented as she grinned at the photo her junior had managed to take. After all, Shinichi-kun had looked so well, with his hair messy and shirt slightly opened, the tie nowhere to be found. There were, after all, pecks about having such young man working at the station, while he was certainly untouchable, no one could judge them for looking.

"I wonder what happened though…" Sato wondered as she finished her coffee, ignoring the report waiting for her, more than aware she would have to wait for Takagi anyway.

"Probably forgot something at the car." Appearing from behind, Yumi grinned as her friends flinched just slightly, not having noticed her stealthy approach. "I know I forget everything. Just yesterday, after buying food for my babies, I completely forgot about it until midnight when Suta came complaining… It was such a pain, I had to agree to go on a date with Seiji."

"Yes, yes, we all know you are an airhead, but this is Kudo Shinichi!" Putting her hands together, Akaso stood up dramatically, looking up high at the celling. "The savior of police force, the detective of the east, the great detective! Or, as Megure-keibu calls him, the kid who has more brains than all of us combined." Ignoring the rolling eyes, she sat down once again. "Do you really think he forgot something?"

"You would never guess…" Started Sato as she sighed, putting down her cup with regret, she honestly did not want to return to work. "But he can be awfully clumsy sometimes. For once, he never remembers his own birthday, it is a miracle he knows when his friends were born. Also, never call him before nine and only after you are certain he had some coffee."

"Yes, yes, but to forget something in a car after a crime scene…"

While the female part kept gossiping, down in the garage, Shinichi was dutifully going through every inch of the police car, the despair growing with each moment. He had expected the gift to be there, forgotten somewhere… but obviously, lady luck despised him. Of course it wasn´t there.

"Did you find it?" The hope in his voice dying as Shinichi shook his head, Takagi sighed slightly, not sure what to say to make it better. Truly, the teen looked worse to wear, his eyes growing darker with every second. "You probably left it at the coffee. Why don´t I give you a lift? I am not supposed to take a car, but if I explain that it was for you…"

Smiling slightly, Shinichi shook his head, taking in a deep breath. "It´s fine, I can run there, it is not that far away. Sorry for this, I know you have some work to finish, thanks for allowing me to look. Merry Christmas."

"No need to thank me, wish you luck on finding…" It was no use, however, as the teen had already took off again, showing impressive speed that Takagi had no hope to ever match. "Merry CHRISTMAS!"

In silence, only a hollow laugh and faint thank you as his answer, Takagi watched him go, trying to remember once again if he had seen the red packing Shinichi was looking for. To be honest, he hadn´t been paying attention, wishing the working hours would end so he could go home and celebrate properly. However, maybe Sato-san had seen it, she was way more observant than him.

Hurrying back into the room, where the calm had once again regained its rightful place, he joined the short haired detective, taking a place right next to her.

"Sato-san, did you see the red gift Kudo-kun had on him at the café?" Confused, Sato nodded, refraining from reminding him to call her by her name. "Kudo-kun is looking for it, he forgot it somewhere. Did he leave it at the café?"

"The gift? No, he did not. He gave it to Megure-keibu, it was a present from his parents."

"It was? But… then why is he looking for it?"

"How should I know?" Sighing, giving the paperwork once last glance, Sato felt extremely tired. "Probably wasn´t paying attention and he´s trying to find it now. We should call him. Do you know his new number?"

Blinking, Takagi shook his head, taking in her tired eyes. Lately Sato-san has been working harder, trying to gain a raise she certainly deserved. Once again, he felt horrible, if not for his lousy work, she could already be at home resting and enjoying her holidays. However, there wasn´t much he could do but finish the reports in record time.

"When Megure-keibu returns we´ll ask for the number. For now, I´ll try to finish the reports quickly, just wait a little bit longer, alright?"

Looking up, Sato stared at him wordlessly for a second, before smiling. Truly, Takagi could be such a sweetheart. Nodding, she rested her head on the table as she watched him work, clumsiness overwritten by fierce determination. Honestly, she wouldn´t allow another one to have him.

* * *

Kudo Shinichi was not having a good day. What started as something he thought could be enjoyable was clearly turning out to be a nightmare, worse than the whole Black organization fiasco. After all, what was a couple of murderers and trained killers compared to the wrath of your best karate-champion-friend finding out you had lost her present? Oh god, he was so screwed!

The gift was not at the café! It was not at the table, not underneath the table, no one had mistakenly taken it, it disappeared! Shinichi had repeated the path he had taken three times already, once again standing in the same spot he had realized he had lost the gift, and he still had not found the gift.

The day was horrible.

The day was the worst.

Shinichi officially hated Christmas.

"Tantei-kun?"

Jumping from his self-named spot at the bus stop, since he was NOT returning home without a gift, Shinichi looked up, desperation clear on his face. For a moment, he wondered if maybe, just maybe, a miracle would happen and the gift would appear mysteriously, after all this person WAS known for miracles, but the detective was not stupid, miracles were lies.

"Hey there…"

Blinking, the Kaito Kid in person, Kuroba Kaito, tilted his head slightly, analyzing his friend with wide azure eyes, having never seen him so defeated, nor so messy looking. Not that it didn´t suit him, he had a feeling Shinichi could look like a homeless and people would still adore him, but it truly spoke about his desperation.

"What is wrong, Shin-chan?" Sitting down next to his friend, ignoring the glare sent his way, Kaito grinned. "Come, tell me everything, I´ll listen without judging. Who did you kill?"

"Haha, really funny." Rolling his eyes as sarcasm filled his voice, the detective sighed once again. "I lost Ran´s present."

…

"Ha?"

"Ran´s present, the one I bugged you about for days because I wanted that neckless and the owner would only sell to a magician! I lost it! I had it with me today and somehow I stopped paying attention! Kaito, I don´t know where it is. I searched every single place, even when as far as to freak out random people by threatening them if they didn´t show me the security footage… What am I going to go, Ran will be so angry and…"

"Shhh…" Going quiet as a finger suddenly made its way to his lips, Shinichi stared surprised, wondering why Kaito was staring at him as if he was an idiot. "You lost Ran´s gift? The one you left at my house because you didn't want her to find it when she went to Hakase´s for the Christmas lights? THAT gift?"

"Your… but then… What was the present I was…?" Kaito was joking, right?

"It was Megure-keibu´s, you said you would give it today. You warped it in the same paper because there was no more left. Try to remember you giving it."

Putting his head in his hands, Shinichi removed all lingering anxiety form his mind, analyzing his memories with pure facts and logic.

They had finished the case. As he finished writing, Megure-keibu had offered to take him home, he had given the gift half distracted because someone stated taking pictures. He left with a mumbled goodbye, the woman had to be removed, black hair, a mole under her right eye, recent plastic surgery, promised to be back, said she loved him – stalker tendencies, better be kept under watch…

"How could this…?" How could he have been so stupid? He lost hours looking for a gift that was not lost, all because he had not paid enough attention to his own memories! How could he have done such a rookie mistake? No, wait, he knew how. He was not thinking, he was feeling, how stupid…

"Now that all is solved, how about we join the party? Ran-san had asked me to look for you, you are not answering your phone." Not that he would admit that he was also worried, it was rare for Shinichi to also ignore his calls. Shinichi did have some dark moments after the Conan-incident, and Kaito always listened.

Standing up, Shinichi nodded, aware his self-loathing would have to wait until he was all alone, but as he suddenly noticed, he was in no condition to attend any short of party. His sudden loss of heart must have shown, since Kaito suddenly smiled, winking as his doves appeared out of nowhere.

"Such a pitiful sight you are, my dear meitantei." The jerk couldn't help but remark, eyes glinting with amusement. "However, you are lucky today, my friend. While I am no godmother with magic power, I guess I am a magician."

In a single red puff of smoke, Shinichi was suddenly standing well-dressed once again, his hair lying neatly on his head, while his lost tie made a reappearance.

"Thanks…" The detective mumbled, taking the right red gift Kaito extended his way, ignoring the urge to wipe that smirk for his face. He knew that he owned the magician one now, but for once, he did not care.

"While we walk there, why don´t you tell me about how you threatened people?"

Swatting him slightly on the head, the detective smiled, finally returning home. Maybe, just maybe, the day was not so bad after all.


End file.
